International Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, during 28 November to 2 December 2002,

1. US Military Forces and Bases in Japan, Korea, and the Philippines
2. Resolution to Oppose a United States-led War against Iraq
3. Resolution on the International Criminal Court
4. Resolution on West Papua
5. Policy on Refugees and Asylum Seekers
6. Resolution calling on Australia and the United States to sign the Kyoto Protocol
7. Resolution on Security Council Resolution 1325
8. Resolution on German Security Council Presidency
9. Resolution on Nepal

1. US Military Forces and Bases in Japan, Korea, and the Philippines

The International Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, during 28 November to 2 December 2002, expresses its outrage over the continued presence of the US military forces and/or US military bases in Okinawa, mainland Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.

 We call on the US to withdraw their forces and relinquish their bases in order to respect the sovereignty of Okinawa, mainland Japan, Korea, and the Philippines, and to restore the land occupied by the bases to the people.

 In order to accelerate this process we call on the governments of Japan, Korea and the Philippines to stop all military cooperation with the USA.

 2. Resolution to Oppose a United States-led War against Iraq

 Whereas the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom opposes all acts of violence and war,

 Whereas the US President and his allies plan for pre-emptive attack, invasion, or overthrow of the government of Iraq violate international law and the basic principles of the United Nations Charter,

 Whereas, a pre-emptive attack will risk destabilisation of the region, incur enmity world-wide, provoke hostile countermeasures, and set a dangerous precedent which other countries may follow,

 Whereas, economic sanctions against Iraq have already caused the deaths of more than one million people, most of them children, and war will lead to enormous additional death and suffering

 Whereas, war against Iraq will also affect citizens of many countries as military casualties and as world nations pay hundreds of millions of dollars for war, millions taken from meeting social needs at home or internationally.

 Additionally such a war is being used as a pretext to eliminate existing civil liberties of persons all over the world,

 Therefore, the International Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom calls for:

 a. All nations to join in seeking through the United Nations a peaceful resolution of this and all potential conflicts.

 b. All leaders to respect international law and immediately halt all plans and preparations for war on Iraq.

 c. All leaders to respect the long struggle for civil liberties and to cease to use the threat of terrorism to overthrow these liberties.

 d. The governments and citizens of all countries to act and make their voices heard to prevent the United States government and its allies taking further military actions against Iraq or any other country.

 3. Resolution on the International Criminal Court

 NOTING that the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is an organisation working for the defence of fundamental human rights and the self-determination of Peoples

 INDICATING the importance the International Criminal Court constitutes for the judgement of those responsible for atrocious crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression when that shall be defined

 EMPHASIZING that the International Criminal Court is an historic triumph for humanity in the search for justice, integral restoration, and compensation against the worst crimes that can be committed against all humanity

 RECALLING the suffering of peoples, the devastation and horror that these crimes have caused, unpunished until now

 WARNING that impunity of such atrocious crimes is one of the factors that have contributed most to the lack of reconciliation among peoples, to the impossibility of establishing a sustainable and lasting peace, and is an element setting off political instability

 HAVING in mind the atrocious crimes committed against the women of the world, in peacetime as well as in armed conflict, international or civil war: crimes such as rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy and forced sterilisation, and other forms of sexual violence of comparable seriousness, crimes which for the first time in human history are now part of a statute of international law in a solid and coherent framework

 CALLING attention to the continual attacks against the integrity of the Statute of Rome and the legitimacy of the ICC on the part of the present superpower, the United States of America, and the ambiguous position of the European Union on this subject

 THE WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM, meeting in New Zealand in its international executive committee RESOLVES

 TO SUPPORT the International Criminal Court. To work for its maintenance and integrity and to contribute to strengthening and implementing it at the international and national levels

 TO AFFIRM, in keeping with Security Council Resolution 1325, the importance of appointing of women as judges to the International Criminal Court and urge that as many women as possible be appointed initially to the ICC with 50% as the obvious standard

 TO REJECT the continual attacks which the ICC has suffered from the current government of the United States of America

 TO DENOUNCE the unclear position taken by the European Union concerning the ICC and the continual attacks upon it by the United States of America

 TO REJECT and denounce the proposed bilateral treaties based on Article 98 of the Rome Statute which would be carried out by States Parties to the ICC Statute, treaties which would maintain impunity for those guilty of crimes that would thus be excluded from the competence of the Court by use of this stratagem of political pressure.

 4. Resolution on West Papua

 The International Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand from 28 November to 2 December 2002,

 Is concerned about the human rights situation in West Papua, and the very restricted access to information about the situation there being imposed by the Indonesian Government which affects the women in particular,

 Welcomes the formation of women's grassroots networks, and

 Calls on the Indonesian Government to recognise and respect them and give them any necessary protection without curtailing their freedom.

 5. Policy on Refugees and Asylum Seekers

 The International Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand from 28 November to 2 December 2002,

 Affirms that it is a human right of refugees and asylum seekers to be given refuge in the country, to which they flee,

 Bears in mind that incarceration and harsh, insensitive treatment, detention behind razor wire, poor accommodation, and unfamiliar food and customs, only adds to the trauma of people who flee their homes and countries due to persecution for political or religious reasons or as a consequence of war,

 Recognises that women and children refugees are the most affected by the separation from families and homelands, and that children particularly may suffer long term mental health problems and also from the lack of proper education when they are held in detention centres,

 Emphasises that language barriers lead to misunderstandings and the lack of women's health care and particularly sanitary requirements causing embarrassment and despair,

 Calls on all governments to adopt policies in accordance with the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Protocol thereto of 1999 and the United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child of 1989 and the two Optional protocols thereto of 25th May 2000, and

 Requests all governments to allow refugees/asylum seekers awaiting government decisions on their status to live in a community where they can receive comfort and support from community groups as well as monetary assistance from the government.

 (Direct to UNHCR and all governments)

 6. Resolution calling on Australia and the United States to sign the Kyoto Protocol

 The International Executive Meeting of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom meeting in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand from 28th November to 2nd December 2002

 Recognises the human right of everyone to enjoy clean air, a pure fresh water supply and sufficient food free of contamination,

 Is alarmed at the degradation of much of the world's environment and the danger to health of populations due to air pollution,

 Bearing in mind that the Kyoto Protocol's Agreement on Greenhouse Gas Emissions is a responsible step forward in controlling pollution of the planet's atmosphere,

 Acknowledging that the requisite number of countries have now signed this Protocol,

 Acknowledging those countries that recently decided to sign the Protocol at the Johannesburg United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development,

 Calls on Australia and the United States of America to sign the Kyoto Protocol.

 (Direct to the US and Australian governments and the UN secretary general)

 7. Resolution on Security Council Resolution 1325

 WILPF requests the UN Security Council to make a follow up statement or resolution which advocates concrete measures when it comes to equal allocation of power and resources in peace building processes.

 The suggested measures are

 a) the use of quotas for each gender in decision making bodies

 b) the application of the gender budgeting method to secure a just distribution of resources. Letter from WILPF to the Security Council concerning the follow up of resolution 1325 (Suggested wording):

 The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom acknowledges the importance of the Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security (adopted Oct. 31. 2000). We request that the Security Council now makes a follow up statement or resolution which advocates concrete measures when it comes to equal allocation of power and resources in peace building processes.

 Representation

 The resolution highlights the importance of representation and participation of women in all steps of peace building processes. When it comes to representation, both in political bodies and delegations to negotiations, experience shows that the use of quotas for each gender has been the most successful method.We therefore urge the Security Council to take a clear stand on the issue in favour of the use of quotas as a principle with 50 % of each gender as the obvious standard.

 The Security Council should put a clear requirement on the UN missions to conflict areas to support the call for gender quotas which often comes from the women's organisations in the area.

 To reach the goal of equal representation, it will be necessary to secure the civil society representatives access to the peace tables and the mechanisms for post conflict reconstruction. The inclusion of women's organisations and other grass root organisations will, in turn, contribute to a broader understanding and acceptance of the peace accords and thereby lay the ground for a sustainable peace.

 Allocation of resources

The question of representation and access to decision making is closely linked with the question of access to resources. A fair distribution of financial resources is a prerequisite for the practical implementation of resolution 1325. We therefore request that the Security Council advocates for the application of gender budgeting to resources mobilised through multilateral and bilateral donors. The resources for peace negotiations, post conflict reconstruction and humanitarian assistance must be allocated and distributed according to the demographic composition of women and men.

 References

 This request from Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is made with reference to the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (1995) which calls for equal representation of women and men in peace building.

 We also refer to and build on the UNIFEM report "Women, War and Peace: The independent Experts' Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women's role in Peacebuilding" (2002). This report includes 22 key recommendations We especially refer to no. 9 which recommends the use of quotas and no.19 which recommends the principle of gender budgeting.

 (Direct to all Security Council ambassadors and UNIFEM.)

 8. Resolution on German Security Council Presidency

 The International Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand from 28 November to 2 December 2002, appeals to the government of Germany:

 As one of the oldest women's peace organizations that is working since 1915 for the abolition of war, we welcome the announcement of the German Chancellor Mr. Gerhard Schroeder not to support a possible war against Iraq.

 We recall that military solutions in conflicts have never brought sustainable peace but created tremendous suffering for civil society and have especially affected women and children.

 We call on the German government in light of its presidency of the Security Council in February 2003 to take every step possible to ensure that the provisions of the UN Charter are fully observed, in particular those of Article 6.

 We therefore urge the government of Germany to reject any military intervention in conflicts and to promote peaceful means to resolve conflicts.

 9. Resolution on Nepal

 The International Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand from 28 November to 2 December 2002,

 Recalling WILPF's 2001 Resolution "The Situation in Nepal",

 Is still greatly concerned about the deteriorating situation in that country since December, 2001,

 Aware that a full-scale army operationis in progrss and that hundreds of people have been killed,

 Is alarmed at the action of the then Prime Minister, when Sher Bahadur Deuba, with the excuse of holding mid-term elections in November 2002, dissolved the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Nepalese Parliament, on 22 May 2002 and subsequently dismissing the elected local bodies, leaving the country without any elected bodies,

 Noting that the given excuse for not holding parliamentary elections was "due to security reasons" and that using his constitutional entitlement to Clause 127 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal of 1990, AD, the King dismissed the Deuba Government and formed a new cabinet, choosing all members himself with Mr. Loclendra Bahadur Lochanda as premier,

 Aware that due to this constitutional act, the King has been in direct confrontation with the people,

 Aware that although the King-appointed cabinet has declared the intention of holding a new election, the people are demanding a new dialogue among the monarchy, the rebel forces, the Parliament, and the peace movement, and that to restore a democratic government and start the peace process, the people demand the following:

 a. Restore people's democratic rights as guaranteed in the constitution,

 b. Resolve the national crisis between the state and the rebel forces, now continuing for a number of years,

 c. Effectively control the corruption and other malpractices prevalent at all government levels, and

 d. Start the peace process by holding elections as soon as possible.

 WILPF appeals to the United Nations and to all peace and democracy-loving people of the world to support the democratic aspirations of the Nepalese people and start the peace process through multilateral mediation with the support of UN bodies.